Butter Roll Dessert Recipe With Crescent Rolls
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
My shortcut Southern butter roll dessert recipe includes flaky crescent roll dough with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling baked in a deliciously sweet sauce.
The Southern Plate Family is plum full, brimming over actually, with brilliant people. I’m talking about you, y’all, and all of us collectively. Seriously, y’all have the best ideas! So when I posted my old-fashioned butter roll recipe on Southern Plate Family’s Facebook page recently, I had a few comments and emails about how some folks make them with crescent roll dough.
I was intrigued. I was inspired. And most importantly, I was hungry. So I took my intrigued, inspired, and hungry self into the kitchen and decided to give it a go. My mother called every five minutes to check on the progress. My house began to smell like it was placed two steps from the gates of Heaven. Then I pulled them butter rolls from the oven and had a taste while they were so hot steam was coming off my fork. Mama called and I told her, “I do not say this lightly, but these are actually better than the from-scratch version.”
Now, in case you don’t know what a Southern butter roll dessert recipe entails, let me tell you ALL about how delicious they are! Our crescent roll dough is filled with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling, then we bake it in a vanilla-flavored milk sauce. It’s a little bit thinner than a custard but just as delicious. Can you just picture the combination of a flaky butter roll with a sweet sauce? It’s the best, y’all.
So, if you’re not in your kitchen already making this butter roll dessert recipe, I’m not quite sure what is keeping you!
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Crescent roll dough
- Cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
How to Make Butter Rolls With Crescent Rolls
What you need to start…
To start, you’re gonna need a surface to roll all this out onto. Usually, I get some waxed paper and sprinkle a little flour on it but I felt like being even easier today so I just grabbed a baking sheet and sprayed it with cooking spray.
Place your crescent roll dough on the greased or floured surface.
Roll it out and press the seams together so it is one big old sheet of dough.
Spread that whole thing with softened butter.
Don’t spread all the way to the edge but leave about 1/2 an inch all around.
Sprinkle that with sugar.
Sprinkle a wee bit of cinnamon over it if you like. You can also leave this off.
Roll that up longways and press it together a little bit with your hands.
Cut that into 10 or 12 pieces.
Just see where your knife ends up and cut. It doesn’t make no never mind if you have 9, 10, or 12 slices.
Spray an 8-inch round pan (a cake pan works fine) with cooking spray.
Place your slices in it.
Place milk and vanilla in a microwave-proof measuring cup and heat it in the microwave for about a minute or until it is very warm.
Stir your sugar into the warm milk and keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour the over the rolls.
Place this in a 350-degree oven and bake until rolls are golden brown (about 30-35 minutes).
I like to serve these warm as dessert at the end of a good country meal, but they are also delightful for breakfast or a coffee snack.
Just eat one. And then another. And you should probably have at least a third or fourth, just for quality control purposes, before serving them to your family, if there are any left!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can quickly reheat them in the microwave, oven, or the air fryer.
Recipe Notes
- You can use Swerve as a replacement for sugar in this whole recipe if you like. A lot of folks have been on a Stevia kick lately so I gave it a go but Stevia is definitely not for me. Of course, if you have a favorite sweetener and want to try that, go for it. I’ve only done it with Swerve so I can’t speak for any others from a personal account.
- For more flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg when you sprinkle on the ground cinnamon.
- If you like, you can also add some finely chopped apples, raisins, or chopped nuts to the filling.
Check out these other scrumptious Southern desserts:
Chocolate Chip Biscuits, Southern-Style
Ole Fashioned Southern Sugar Plum Cake
Mini Boston Cream Pies, Southern-Style
Lemon Chess Pie: A Southern Family Tradition
Homemade Chocolate Pudding, Southern-Style
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce can crescent roll rough
- 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter or margarine
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Milk Sauce
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a greased or floured surface and press seams together.1 8-ounce can crescent roll rough
- Spread softened butter over the dough, leaving 1/2-inch of space at the edges on all sides. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up longways and squeeze lightly with hands to seal.1/4 cup softened unsalted butter or margarine, 1/8 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Cut into 10-12 slices and place slices in a greased 8-inch round pan or cake pan.
- Place milk and vanilla in a measuring cup and heat in the microwave until very warm. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour over the rolls.1 cup whole milk, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Once removed from the oven, let them sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
“Life is short, but there is always time for courtesy.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Submitted by Angela Lewis (thanks Angela!). Submit your quote by clicking here.
I was good, Thank You. And a very easy recipe. I try not to use to much white suger. But it was great.
I am so glad to hear you liked it!!!
My grandma used nutmeg instead of cinnamon it was so good and. Half and half instead of milk
These just blessed me! Added a tsp of almond extract and they were amazing! Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you liked them Anne!!!
I have tried my own version of Short-cut Butter Rolls. I bought canned cinnamon roll, poured sugar, butter & milk over them. That is even more short-cut than yours. It was tasty, but not nearly as good as my Mom’s from scratch.
This is the 1st time I have ever seen a recipe for Butter Rolls, short-cut or from scratch, & believe me I am a cookbook fanatic. I have been collecting recipes since I was in 4-H. I am 62 yrs. old & have quite a collection of clipped recipes & published cookbooks. I was beginning to think my mother invented it, because every time I have ever told anyone about this yummy concoction they say they have never heard of it.
When I was a girl Grandmama made them for me and as I grew up I looked for a recipe, hoping to find one in several cookbooks or even family cookbooks to no avail. I put this under one of those “lost or nearly lost” recipes. I went to Grandmama’s house one day and had her make them, stopping her to let me measure everything in each step so I could write down the instructions. That was the original recipe I posted.
To those of us who were raised on them, there is is just nothing like the love you taste in every bite.
I grew up and continue to live in the south. My Momma made butter rolls frequently when we were young. She left them in long rolls, usually about 4, and placed them side by side in an oblong casserole dish to bake. Occasionally she made chocolate butter rolls but not often. And always were made out of biscuit dough. She said they originally came from the extra biscuit dough because nothing could ever go to waste when you were a poor farmer. Her family farmed and she learned to cook. What a great cook she was too!
Oh my goodness, what a wise and wonderful woman!!!
Donna, my mama also used the left over biscuits to make these. Guess that is a Poor Southern thing as I was raised and Still live in the South!
Hi Christy, First let me say HOW MUCH I enjoy your site,I love you and don’t even know you but you were raised like me,so that makes us kin Right? LOL But I just wanted to tell you my Mother made these for years and when I started making them I use evaporated milk and they are so good,thanks for all the wonderful recipes and all you do for your readers.
Rita
I made these this morning and they are INSANELY good. I’m going to have to pace myself so I don’t finish off the whole pan in one day (but then… you only live once, right?! 😉 )